Good news, I can know buy my boys a CJ Fathead without having to worry he may be gone next year...

That's the reason my wife didn't want to buy a CJ jersey last year. Looks like we'll have to pony up the cash for that jersey now.

Yup, time to get myself a CJ jersey too!

It's an absurd amount of money but he's hand's down the best WR in the league and a humble, hardworking player and a good teammate. We don't have to worry about him being a Diva or having off field issues like the Bears new prize possession that got stabbed in the stomach by his OWN WIFE last year and just got in a bar fight and supposedly punched a woman days before the trade. CJ is worth every penny. Stafford to CJ will be a fixture of this team for years and years to come.

Now GO GET'EM MAYHEW! I'd like to see Tulloch, Landry, and Marshall or Carr. I hope we can pull off a worthwhile OT too if there is one out there still.

Isn't Carr going to be looking at a Finnegan type contract? What was it 50 million over 4 years?Tulloch and Landry I am with you on though.

March 14th, 2012, 12:50 pm

Boz

Varsity Captain

Joined: September 28th, 2011, 5:57 pmPosts: 321

Re: CALVIN!!!

At this point I'm guessing that this 12 of Green Bud Light pints will not see the sun rise on St. Paddy's Day!

$132 mil, is that considered "Elite" WR pay? Hell that's probably 3 or 4 times what that jackwagon Carter made in his whole career. HA!!!!!

March 14th, 2012, 1:00 pm

kdsberman

Team MVP

Joined: February 20th, 2007, 10:51 pmPosts: 3419Location: Saginaw, MI

Re: CALVIN!!!

Wow. Working midnights sucks for things like Free Agency, cuz you gotta miss all the early day news while sleeping. So itll definetely wake you up seeing a $132 million figure! Especially when its on your team.

Glad they got it done. Glad that Calvin isnt a selfish, greedy person like some guys in the NFL are. Hes worth every penny of that contract.

It breaks down to a little over $1 million per game for the life of the contract. Its one thing for the fans and coaches to speak highly of him, but analysts and players all speaking up about him deserving every penny says a lot. Many analysts think he could have gotten more. He's a Lion for life.

March 14th, 2012, 4:08 pm

Rob_Shadows

3rd Round Selection

Joined: December 25th, 2005, 6:19 amPosts: 1188

Re: CALVIN!!!

This actually gives us enough money so they *could* go forward with the alleged previous plans of chasing Mario if they really wanted to...he'd likely average 15/year (or around there) so the initial cap hit would be around 10-13 more than likely, of course without cutting anyone it basically eliminates much else but IF we did go after him and land him I think we can all agree KVB would be gone...possibly even Corey as well.

I learned long ago how to suppress resentment toward millionaire sports figures whose atmospheric salaries could, in some cases, feed a village of the world's citizens. It's pointless, it only leads to further angst and it's really nothing more than capitalism at work.

Yet as I watched Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson take the podium Wednesday to accept the biggest contract in NFL history, I found myself moving in the opposite direction. I was glad to see someone who, frankly, isn't an idiot -- and doesn't act like one, either -- get rewarded for performing and behaving at the highest levels of his profession.

I won't pretend to be close with Johnson or to have great insight into his life off the field. I'm sure he has an ego and that he has had some moments of weakness. But viewed in the context of professional sports, I think it's well-known that Johnson is a quiet, thoughtful and humble person who is so good at what he does that he never feels compelled to tell you about it.

That's why so many people were using the word "special" Wednesday to describe Johnson, let alone a contract that would pay him $132 million over the next eight seasons. Lions president Tom Lewand said Johnson was "truly deserving of a contract this size" and coach Jim Schwartz -- after checking to make sure negotiations were complete -- said: "Whatever you pay him, it's not enough."

Calvin Johnson#81 WRDetroit Lions

2011 STATSRec = 96Yds = 1681TD = 16Avg = 17.5Long = 73YAC = 524

In one of the more memorable compliments I've heard a coach give a player, Schwartz added: "This is a great day for every kid who was early for every meeting. This is a great day for every kid that stayed after practice, every kid that put the team before himself, every kid that let his play speak for him, because as good a football player as Calvin Johnson is, he's a better teammate and he's a better person. So we're very glad to have him here."

This is not to suggest Johnson is the second coming or that he makes a habit of rescuing cats from trees in between running routes at the Lions' practice facility. He is just a rare NFL superstar, especially at his position, who appears to have no compulsion whatsoever to draw attention to himself. It sounds trite, but Calvin Johnson simply does his job.

He showed up Wednesday wearing a short-sleeved plaid shirt with a white T-shirt showing underneath. If he owns a $5,000 designer suit, not even Wednesday's event qualified as a reason to break it out.

After thanking everyone who worked on the deal, Johnson simply said: "I'm very appreciative and ready to go to work." He let out a few embarrassed giggles when the size of the contract was mentioned and said his otherwise placid demeanor on what was probably the most momentous day of his life is "just me."

In recent years, that personality had caused some of us to wonder if Johnson was too nice, or perhaps not competitive enough, to be the NFL's most feared receiver. Any questions about his edge were answered in the final month of the 2011 season, when he produced three 200-yard games in the Lions' last four games, including a divisional playoff game against the New Orleans Saints.

We should be realistic for a moment and note that the Lions didn't simply reward Johnson because of his good play and citizenship. As we've discussed, a series of events related to the NFL's old and new collective bargaining agreements put them in a spot where they had no choice but to break all financial precedents if they wanted to keep him on their roster.

"He's a guy you have no doubt will handle all that comes with it, with a great deal of skill on and off the field," Lewand said.

Does anyone deserve $132 million for playing football? Wrong question. If you had to give a $132 million contract to someone, wouldn't you hope it was someone like Calvin Johnson? I know I would.

I'm very happy about this! So is Schwartz if you heard the presser yesterday.

Absolutely made up by this news. As plenty of people have said: CJ is both an awesome player and the consumate professional. There is no player in any sport I follow who I would be as comfortable giving guaranteed money to as CJ - he's not a "contract year" guy, he's simply a football player.

But it's a good problem to have, and one the franchise certainly can overcome, given all it's been through.

The re-signing of Calvin Johnson is the first in what's likely to be a trifecta of mega-deals the Lions dish out in the next couple years. It illustrates the problems with the old rookie salary system, and the issues it presented (and continues to present) for high-drafting teams.

The new deal for the No. 2 overall pick in 2007 -- which is worth a max of roughly $131 million over the next eight years, with $53 million in real guarantees -- is the first domino to fall. Quarterback Matthew Stafford (No. 1 pick in 2009) likely will be next, followed by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (No. 2 in 2010).

Those three were drafted within the final four years of the old rookie salary system, and each went within the first two picks, meaning all signed balance-busting deals to come aboard. And the structure of those deals gave players leverage going into a second contract, the one that sets up a player for life.

Of course, this issue for a team is far more workable than landing a dud. As one Lions source said, "I'd much rather have the three of them, and have to work with Stafford and Suh and Johnson, than be caught with JaMarcus Russell. And let's be honest, we had our own guys like that, in Charles Rogers and Joey Harrington."

On each of the three rookie contracts, the final year is set up to have the look of a franchise tag number, something initiated with D'Brickashaw Ferguson's first contract with the Jets. Prior to re-signing, Johnson's cap number was set to be $21 million, according to union figures. Prior to his signing, the other two reworked their deals to make them more cap friendly, but each inflated the cap number on the back end -- Stafford's 2014 figure went from $16.6 million to $19.3 million, and Suh's 2014 shot from $15.1 million to $17.57 million.

Those big numbers can sap the urgency to re-sign on the player's side, and force the club's hand to move, based on their salary situation. Also, it makes the franchise numbers even bigger the following year, if the club just wants to ride out the situation. (Johnson's franchise figure for 2013 would have been a whopping $25.2 million.)

So the Lions had to operate, in negotiating Johnson's deal, knowing that they'd be sinking $46.2 million into their books over the next two years on him if they didn't move. Little wonder then that the hard guarantees in this deal came out in the $50 million neighborhood.

The Lions think they'll be able to handle having their three cornerstones on the books going forward. It likely will make it more difficult for them to do many more high-bonus, low-salary deals that push cap charges into the future, even with the TV deal pushing the cap figures up significantly in 2014. But considering what they're getting -- in Johnson, Stafford and Suh -- the club will be OK with that.

On Wednesday, the Lions extended the contract of receiver Calvin Johnson. Initially reported as a seven-year, $132 million deal, this characterization overlooked the reality that: (1) it’s an eight-year deal; and (2) Johnson already was due to earn $18.5 million in 2012. Also, the report that Johnson will receive $60 million in guaranteed money is, as reports regarding guaranteed money usually are, inflated.

We heard last night that the numbers may have been grossly inflated. Here’s the real story on the deal.

It’s an eight-year, $131.95 million contract. Until, however, the team chooses to fully guaranteed $3.5 million in base salary in 2018 and $3.5 million in base salary in 2019, the last two years will void, making it a six-year, $96.7 million deal.

So, basically, the last two years are phony, for now.

Factoring in the $18.5 million Johnson already was due to make in 2012 before the extension, it’s a seven-year, $113.5 million deal. Dropping the phony-for-now base salaries for 2018 and 2019, it’s a five-year, $78.25 million contract.

Not eight (or seven) years and $132 million. Five years, $78.25 million.

Without the phony-for-now final two years, the contract has an average new-money value of $15.7 million. If the Lions choose to buy back the last two years by guaranteeing $7 million total in salary, the new-money average increases to $16.2 million.

It gets more confusing than usual when trying to decipher the guaranteed money. Before a non-guaranteed option bonus of $20 million is exercised in 2013, the deal has $48.75 million in fully guaranteed money. After the option is exercised (and including the $20 million option bonus), $37.25 million is fully guaranteed.

The $60 million in guaranteed money arises from a $16 million signing bonus, a fully-guaranteed base salary of $1.25 million, the $20 million non-guaranteed option bonus, and another $22.5 million in fully-guaranteed base salary that becomes guaranteed for injury only after the option bonus is paid.

Though not guaranteed, the option bonus undoubtedly will be paid, because until the option is paid the deal has $31.5 million in fully-guaranteed base salaries. (It’s an excellent device for ensuring that the option bonus will be paid.)

And now for the nuts and bolts of the deal . . . .

1. Signing bonus: $16 million.

2. 2012 base salary: $1.25 million, fully guaranteed.

3. 2012 roster bonus: $4.5 million. (Earned under prior contract.)

4. 2013 option bonus: $20 million.

5. 2013 base salary: $5 million, fully guaranteed before option is paid, guaranteed for injury only after option is paid.

6. 2014 base salary: $5 million, fully guaranteed before option is paid, guaranteed for injury only after option is paid.

7. 2015 base salary: $12.5 million, fully guaranteed before option is paid, guaranteed for injury only after option is paid.

8. 2016 base salary: $15.95 million, $9 million of which is fully guaranteed before option is paid, not guaranteed after option is paid.

9. 2017 base salary: $16.5 million.

10. 2018 base salary: $17 million, $3.5 million of which is fully guaranteed if the team buys back the last two years.

11. 2019 base salary: $18.25 million, $3.5 million of which is fully guaranteed if the team buys back the last two years.

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